Stories of holy priests is healing

I loved reading all of the inspiring stories of the 12 holy priests featured in the In Focus.

Father Esswein is the associate pastor at my parish, St. Peter in Kirkwood, Missouri. I cannot say enough about his humility, wisdom, holiness, and courage in speaking out on topics confronting the Church today, and his special connection to the young people of our parish is invaluable!

I would love to read more of these stories! Since you received so many, would you consider posting more of them online or even publishing them in booklet form? It is healing to read these stories about holy, inspiring, saintly priests of today!

Thank you so much for publishing these stories!

— Kathy Fotouhi, via email

Hispanic study

Thank you for your column on Hispanics and for the general excellence of Our Sunday Visitor.

I had a shock this past week when I noticed a store manager’s name tag at a McDonald’s restaurant. It said “Lourdes.” I asked the Hispanic woman what parish she is in. She fidgeted and finally said, “I belong to the Seven Day Adventist Church.” She was busy and somewhat elusive, but I determined that I will ask her in the days ahead whether she is conversant with Bernadette and the events of the miracle. Her parents apparently were.

I agree with the “opportunity” that we have presently. One of the keys, in my opinion, is the encouragement needed in Hispanic communities for the development of priests and nuns. Another key in this and other proselytizing efforts is emphasizing the real presence in the Eucharist.

Illegal immigrants

My heart sank when I saw the headline on the May 18 issue of OSV: “Study: Hispanics are future of U.S. Church.”

The Boston College assistant professor, Hosffman Ospino, doesn’t live out here in the trenches. He does not mention the words “illegal immigrants” when he is outlining the issue.

I agree a lot of these folks are wonderful Catholics, but there is a bigger picture here: It all began with the idea of globalization. Our manufacturing jobs disappeared, our children were told they were ... too good to pick vegetables or put roofs on homes. In come the Mexicans. Wonderful workers — streaming over the border, bearing babies here — with nobody caring about work permits or legal immigration rules.

Why doesn’t the Church spend more time in Mexico trying to fix their corrupt issues? It is a country with many natural resources and should not be struggling like it is. Work on the drug crime there instead of letting it come here.

The lawlessness of the whole issue is going to destroy our wonderful country. We cannot continue on this road, and the fact that so many in power don’t see it because they are not actually living it is very discouraging and will have disparaging effects on our population.

The middle class will not exist as we have known it. The driving force for raising strong families — being able to support them as parents did in prior generations — will be gone. The jobs here will just be in the fast-food business.

— Violet Hayes, Omaha, Nebraska

Peace at Mass

I heartily approve of the changes in the Mass, but there is one thing that has bothered me. We hear in the Mass that true peace comes from God; therefore, at the sign of peace, I greet my fellow worshipers with the phrase, “The peace of Christ be with you.” I feel this is the true meaning of the sign of peace and I would like to see it put into practice.